Primary Skills: Front-End Engineering (advanced), Design Systems (advanced), Component Libraries (advanced), GitHub/Git (advanced), Figma (advanced), Design Tokens (advanced), Code Connect (advanced)
Contract Type: W2
Duration: 12 Months
Location: San Diego, CA (#LI-Hybrid)
Pay Range: $75-$80/hr
#LP
Job Summary:
This role is for a Senior Design Technologist who will bridge design and engineering by building technical foundations for prototyping, leading a UI refresh across modern design systems, and improving how design work moves from Figma to production. The ideal candidate has a strong front-end engineering background, hands-on experience with design systems and component libraries, and the ability to work directly with Product Design teams to make development faster and more efficient.
Key Responsibilities:
Build and maintain a scalable Claude prototyping library/repository that design teams can use as a technical foundation.
Establish clean GitHub practices including repository structure, branching, versioning, contribution guidelines, and scalability.
Lead the technical kickoff for the UI refresh across IDS, GBSG, and CGDS.
Determine which design systems and components should be used across different products and teams.
Define implementation patterns and ensure the UI refresh is completed correctly without creating additional technical debt.
Partner with Product Design to make design experiences code-ready and production-ready faster.
Define and improve design-to-development handoff processes to reduce rework and shorten turnaround time.
Work hands-on to unblock teams and solve technical challenges during prototyping and implementation.
Support the adoption of modern design system tooling, components, and design-to-code workflows.
Must-Have Skills:
Strong front-end engineering background with hands-on experience building or working with design systems and component libraries.
Experience owning a GitHub/Git repository end-to-end, including structure, branching, contribution guidelines, versioning, and CI.
Hands-on experience with Figma, design tokens, Code Connect, or similar design-system/design-to-code tooling.
Experience building and maintaining prototyping libraries or technical foundations for design teams.
Proven experience partnering directly with Product Designers to improve design-to-development handoffs.
Strong understanding of component-based development and modern UI implementation patterns.
Ability to identify and resolve technical blockers quickly.
Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Pragmatic, hands-on approach with the ability to execute rather than only provide technical architecture.
Nice-to-Have Skills:
Experience leading a large-scale UI refresh or design-system migration.
Experience working across multiple design systems or product organizations.
Experience with Code Connect or similar Figma-to-code workflows.
Experience establishing reusable prototyping frameworks for designers and engineers.
Experience reducing technical debt through standardized UI/component implementation.
Experience working in a product organization closely with Product Design, Engineering, and Design Systems teams.
Industry Experience:
This role is ideal for candidates with experience in front-end engineering, design systems, design technology, UI development, prototyping, SaaS, or technology environments. Candidates who have worked as a Design Technologist, Front-End Engineer, UI Engineer, Design Systems Engineer, or similar hybrid design/engineering professional would be highly relevant.
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